01850nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653003100065653001100096653001100107653001100118653001200129653002500141653001100166653000900177653002500186653001700211653000900228653002900237100001900266700001600285700001200301700001200313700001500325245010300340856004100443300001000484490000700494520098500501022001401486       1997                            d  c1997 Jun10aAdult10aBacteriological Techniques10aBiopsy10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aLongitudinal studies10aMalawi10aMale10aMycobacterium leprae10aNerve Tissue10aSkin10aSkin Diseases, Bacterial1 aPonnighaus J M1 aLienhardt C1 aLucas S1 aFine PE1 aSterne J A00aComparison of bacillary indexes in slit-skin smears, skin and nerve biopsies; a study from Malawi.  uhttp://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v65n2a08.pdf  a211-60 v653 a<p>Data analyzed in this paper were collected within the framework of the Lepra Evaluation Project, an epidemiological study of leprosy in Karonga District, northern Malawi. For 212 patients information on the number of skin lesions, slit-skin smear and skin biopsy results were available. Among 61 patients with a single lesion none were slit-skin-smear positive and two had bacilli detected in skin biopsies. In contrast, among 119 patients with four or more lesions 34 (28.6%) versus 59 (49.6%) had bacilli detectable in slit-skin smears or skin biopsies, respectively. In a further 47 patients skin biopsy results could be compared with split-nerve biopsy results. In 20 of 47 patients the bacterial indexes (BIs) were identical in skin and nerve biopsies, while in 26 of 47 patients the BIs were higher in nerve than in skin biopsies. This difference, which is consistent with several other studies in the literature, provides an insight into the pathogenesis of leprosy.</p>  a0148-916X